Ten years is a long time in technology. If you were reading about Netflix back in 2011, you would probably be hearing about its struggles in turning its DVD rental business into a streaming service – at one point during the year its shares dropped from $300 to $70. We all know how that turned out in the end, and similar stories could be told about Uber, Bitcoin, Amazon Alexa and countless other tech-linked products and services that have only arrived in the last decade or so.
As tech changes, so do jobs, of course. And many roles that you can apply for in 2021 were not available in 2011. Below we have picked out a small slice of that changing trend, looking at five diverse types of job that you can take on today. Many others could be added to the list, but this selection acts as a snapshot of changing landscape:
Drone Operator/Pilot
You have probably heard that companies like Amazon see a big future in drone deliveries. In fact, that future is probably nearer than you think. But there is a lot more to drone operating than dropping off parcels, and it can require a varied skill-set. For instance, many drone pilot jobs look to attract creative types, such as people with photography skills that could become aerial photographers. Drone technology is set to become massive, and it will be used in everything from disaster management to making Hollywood movies. We should probably add that there will likely be some jobs available for some form of drone traffic warden in the near future too.
Rewilders
This is an industry that could explode in the years to come. A rewilder is someone who is in the business of reclaiming land for nature, taking back unnecessary roads, buildings, factories, and so on. Yes, people have been planting trees and creating green spaces for years, but this is a little more complex than that. Rewilders are tasked with finding balance – sometimes a delicate one – between human activity and nature. Rewilders usually have some kind of background in environmental science, but there are also opportunities for passionate amateurs.
Online Croupier
The first live casino games started appearing online around the middle of the 2010s. A live casino game, sometimes called a live dealer game, is a real casino game – real cards, tables, dealers, etc., – with the action live-streamed from a studio. Console technology enables the placement of bets in real-time – it really is like having access to a brick-and-mortar casino on your computer or device. But to offer games like live roulette, you will need to employ croupiers. There are specialist software companies – NetEnt Live, Evolution Gaming, Playtech – who run vast studios all over the world, employing dealers to run the games. It’s clearly a social job, and the croupiers in front of the camera seem to have plenty of fun interacting with the players.
Driverless Car Engineers
The attempts at driverless cars so far have caught the imagination, but there have been a few PR disasters. Nevertheless, the big news to emerge recently is that Apple Inc is aiming to release a self-driving car by 2024. We know that Apple does not like to do things by halves, so the company is likely to release something with the wow factor. Recruitment for engineers for the project started in 2019, but there has also been a call for testers for the cars. More importantly, where Apple leads, other companies will surely follow; so, expect to see more roles available for anyone interested.
Blockchain Developer
Blockchain.com will celebrate its 10th birthday in 2021, so it’s a fitting subject to end this list on. While many will associate blockchain technology with digital currencies like Bitcoin, its uses are much more varied. It can be used for personal identity security, ensuring fair voting (obviously a hot button topic after the US elections last year), logistics monitoring, and countless other tasks. While still in its relative infancy, there are 1000s of jobs available for blockchain engineers and developers worldwide. It looks like blockchain will play a big role in everything from medicine to finance to security – it might be the time to get involved.
